Huh, that's what those window locks are for...

In the car today, Xander discovered the button to control the window by his seat. As he tried to impersonate a dog sticking his head out the window, I thought "oh shoot, now, what do I do?" Then, I remembered window locks. I guess that is what they are put on cars for. I never had much use for them before. Of course, Xander was disappointed that the button was suddenly "broken" (first time I realized he knew this word), but at least his head is intact.

Speaking of car safety, my guy is getting increasingly better and trying to wriggle out of his car seat harness. He's managed to get half way out of the harness a few times. I think I need some better car-tainment to distract him....or perhaps some duct tape. :-P

Some stories are just not for sharing

My little boy is growing up. Maybe some day he'll be reading this blog if it survives that long. Recently, I decided that I probably do need to censor myself a little for his sake. By the time he is a teenager, he'll probably hack the account just to get the embarrassing stories that I've already posted off public visibility.

Anyway, I've got some great stories to share, but you may just have to pick up the phone to hear them.

My buddy Peanut

Remember all of those cute pictures of Peanut and Xander. Peanut just the best, most tolerant (perhaps a little too tolerant sometimes) dog for toddlers. Now, Xander can finally say Peanut's name. Today, we heard Xander loudly calling "Peanut" over and over again from the hall. I walked out to find him giving Peanut a big hug.

He can say Copper's name also. In fact, he did learn her name first. It must be easier to say. Copper doesn't care so much for Xander's poking and pulling though. She mostly focusing on stealing snacks for the poor little guy.

Dip in the lake

Daddy and Xander took a dip in the lake near our home this weekend. It is really starting to warm up. We were hoping to stop by the water playscape that we visited last year, but it doesn't open until next weekend. I'm sure we'll fine another opportunity to go sometime in the next 5 months. That reminds me, time to buy new swim diapers.

A little TOO helpful

Is there such a thing as too helpful? Well, yeah, kinda. One of Xander's teachers recounted a story from today. She was changing the diaper of one of his friends. Xander grabbed a wet wipe and went right for the kids' derriere.

He's just SO into emulating everything that grown ups do these day...even the gross stuff. Too bad I don't have another little one around for him to help diaper.

Spicy!!!!

Thank goodness! Xander FINALLY remembers what spicy means. Up to this point, when he requests some spicy food, we give it to him. He usually loves it until the heat kicks in. Then, he starts crying until we can get him to drink some milk. Every time, we tell him "that is SPICY". Fortunately, this week, we can tell it's sunk in. We've warned him on some food and he's decided against eating it.

I still plan on working up his tolerance for spicy food. However, Mommy and Daddy have many years of tolerance. It's going to take him a while to catch up.

Baby Shower

Today, Xander attended his first baby shower where he wasn't the guest of honor. It's hard to believe that in just a few months, he'll be 2. For this shower, I was hosting in honor of my very good friends, Shelby and Dave, who are expecting in June.

Xander had a mostly good time at the shower. He loved the cheese enchiladas and juice. We don't have juice at home so that was a real treat. He enjoyed playing with the balloons and party favors, playing at the nearby playground, running around outside, and sitting on daddy's shoulders.

Unfortunately, during the gift opening, things took a turn for the worse. He threw up all over himself, daddy, and the floor. Daddy and he made a quick exit after that. He got a bit of an upset stomach with no fever or any sign of feeling bad. I gave him some probiotics (which are the miracle stomach cure as far as I can tell) so hopefully he'll be better tomorrow.

Yay, Xander!!!!

This afternoon, Xander and I got home from the park. I had to go to the bathroom really bad, and Xander was in a really clingy mood. So, I told him that he could come with me while I went to the potty. So much for privacy!

In the bathroom, I asked him if he wanted to sit on his little potty, and he nodded. I told him "ok, sit on the potty." He gave me the host hilarious look like "duh, mom, I need help with my pants first." So, I helped him take off his pants and diaper. He sat on the potty for a while. Then, he stood up very excitedly and reached for the toilet paper. That is when I noticed, he had pee-peed in his potty.

Yay, Xander! This was his first time doing business on the potty. His sat on the potty quite a few times before without anything really happening.

Weekend Getaway

We had a spur of the moment weekend getaway in San Antonio this weekend. Originally, we had planned to meet some friends (from California) in SA for lunch. However, Dolphin was smart enough to suggest that we break of the drive by staying overnight. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast called King William Manor.

A B&B doesn't seem like the most toddler friendly place on paper, but we had a great time. Our suite was really amazing. It was 4 rooms on the upper floor with a door to the interior and a door to the outdoor veranda. In the bedroom, there was a nice little loveseat at the foot of the bed, which was a perfect little crib for Xander. The breakfast was super fabulous with a yummy egg casserole, sausages, corn, fruit, and coffee. The location was very nice also as it was just a block away from the Paseo del Rio.

We had a wonderful time with our friends and walking along the Riverwalk. Xander particularly loved seeing the squirrels and waterfalls. I always forget how wonderful San Antonio is. We certainly need to make the hour and half drive more often.

Annual Texas Wildflowers

You may recall my post from last year of Xander in a field of Texas Blue Bonnets. The crops of wild flowers last year were absolutely nothing compared to this year's fabulous bloom. We took Xander to the exact same field as last year (although April instead of March), and the flowers this year are just lush and amazing.



Texas Blue Bonnet:


Prairie Fire:

My little helper

My little helper likes to clean. He learns this stuff from school. It's not like I ever have time to clean at home so I'm pretty sure he's not learning it from me.

Sweeping the patio:



Vacuuming:





He also is very good at throwing things in the garbage, putting laundry in the laundry basket, or cups in the sink. I need to ask his teachers to teach him how to pour me a glass of wine and give me a foot massage.

Cup obsession

Xander has been drinking out of regular cups for several...I think since 13-14months. Recently, he just been so obsessed with sippy cups. He's started to throw fits if we try to give him the wrong cup. I guess it's all good though if he does want to use a sippy cup. Even though he drinks from a regular cup well, he frequently knocks them over when he's not paying attention. I am fine doing without those messes.

Whas dat?

Xander's is starting to use to words to learn more words! He spends a great deal of time exploring any drawer, box, shelf that he hasn't explored before. He constantly asking "what" or "whas dat" (while pointing) to some new thing. Oh, how much fun when everything is new!

Will it blend?

It looks like we have a next generation "Will it blend?" candidate in our home. The blender is not plugged in thankfully. He inserted bobble-head bodies with detached heads, my Garmin GPS running watch, and various other metal kitchen implements.

Stuff with buttons

If every kid has a favorite toy, then Xander's favorite toy right now is things with buttons. Here are just a few of his frequented button toys around the house:

1) Mommy's & Daddy's cars - I let him play with my car in the garage with the car turned off. He particularly enjoys the emergency lights b/c they make noise and lights.

2) The garage door code panel - showing it to him was a real mistake because now every time he is in the front yard, he insists upon being picked up to push the buttons

3) All of our many computers - he is particularly attracted to the power button, loves to turn them off right when we're trying to use them

4) AV equipment for the TV - it's a complex system, I'm afraid to touch it. When Xander does, he some how finds the perfect button to screw up the whole thing

5) The vacuum cleaner - in addition to turning it on/off with the buttons, he also enjoys using the suction hose to pick up dirt. Today, he kept asking me for "more" dirt. Oh, there's always more of that!

6) Of course toys with buttons - a truck, a baby doll--yeah those things are cool, but if you put a button on it that makes some noise, its suddenly way more awesome.

7) Mommy & Daddy - yeah, he pushes our buttons. Although, at this point, I'd have to say it's not intentional. That comes a little later I'm sure. Right now, he has a negation filter on everything that we say to him. A sentence like "Do not do X" turns into "Do X". He's got way too much curiosity for seeing what happens if I don't listen to what the parents want.

Rainy day toddler-tainment

I read this great suggestion for rainy day indoor todder fun from the Berkely Parents Network. I tried it with Xander, and he loved it. Basically, I filled up a sink with water, threw in some toys, and pulled a stool up for him to stand-on. It captured his attention for a long time, and I could clean the bathroom while he played. Good stuff!

Potty sitting

OK, so...first, I bought this stand-alone little potty for Xander. He really doesn't seem to want anything to do with it. Though, this past week he is seemed interested in sitting on the big potty which is too big for him.

So,W I bought the little potty seat that fits on top of the toilet. Tonight, he actually sat on it for a significant period of time. Whoohoo. Let's hope this happens again. Well, what really happened is I told Xander that I needed to go the potty. You know...toddlers can be so egocentric. Mommy got to hold it while he grabbed the little potty seat and put it on the toilet himself. Then, I helped him get on it. The only problem is that he kept pulling more and more toilet paper and stuffing it in the toilet. I was a little worried he was going to clog it up.

No, actual pottying occurred on in the potty, but I'm glad he at least sat there for a couple of minutes. It's a start.

A first encounter with the circle of life

Today, Xander encountered his first death. I'm fairly certain he didn't understand it. There was a fly buzzing around the room. He giggled when it grazed his forehead. Then, Copper attacked it and in a few seconds of slobbery chopping, it lay dead on the floor. I told Xander "the fly had a good but short life". I think the only thing that I was really able to effectively communicate to him was that the dead fly was "icky" and not to touch.